Between you and me

This exhibition by Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson centres on the representations and intrinsic value of things and calls into question the myriad bases upon which we construct such representations. Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson have for some time in their work been examining specific relationships between human and non-human animals – in nanoq: flat out and bluesome the polar bear, in Big Mouth the Tasmanian Tiger, in (a) fly urban pets etc.

between you and me examines a contemporary set of relationships between humans and seals, with its particular focus on the coastal areas of Iceland where interaction of one sort or another has been customary for many centuries.

The installation is interspersed throughout the Kalmar konstmuseum building – on the entrance floor, the library, the upper stairwell and the main gallery on the top floor. In this upper space the artists have placed their work in direct dialogue with selected works from the collection at Kalmar including drawings, prints, paintings and textiles, all of which in one way or another represent animals

Because most representations are constructed to perform some agenda of our own – in the case of animals, to entertain, to inform, to provide food, to remember, to stand for all others of its species, to symbolize human behavioural characteristics etc – in this process, the animal itself is occluded – eclipsed by its avatar or likeness, which is always a simplification and therefore must accordingly signify a loss.

Snæbjörnsdóttir/Wilson’s work challenges the anthropocentric systems of convenience that sanction a daily acceptance of such loss and posits the alternative idea of parities in meeting.

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